Learner and Learning Process Questions and Answers

Answer: D

Introspection lacks reliability, validity and objectivity, so all three are correct. It is a private observation of one's own mental states, so another person cannot check it (no objectivity), different observers or the same one on different occasions give different reports (low reliability), and the act of introspecting changes the mental state studied (poor validity).

Options A, B and C name only one of the three deficiencies each. The key is D, all the three.

Answer: C

The principle of proceeding from specific to general response is not a principle of development. Development goes from general to specific: an infant first moves its whole body and later makes particular movements, and responds with mass activity before using specific responses.

Continuity (development is a continuous process), individual differences (each child develops at its own rate) and integration (parts combine into a whole) are all accepted principles. So option C, which reverses the true direction, is the one that is not a principle.

Answer: B

For B.F. Skinner, language develops through imitation and reinforcement. Parents reinforce a child's sounds that resemble words and gradually shape them into speech, which is operant conditioning applied to verbal behaviour (Verbal Behavior, 1957).

Training in grammar is not his explanation since children learn rules without formal instruction. Innate ability is the view of Chomsky, who answered Skinner with the language acquisition device. Maturation is the biological ripening of structures and is emphasised by Gesell, not by Skinner.

Answer: D

A behaviour that becomes more frequent when followed by a reward is described by operant conditioning, in which consequences (reinforcement) control the frequency of voluntary behaviour. This is Skinner's law of effect in a formal setting.

Shaping is the technique of reinforcing successive approximations to a target behaviour, not the principle itself. Classical conditioning pairs stimuli to produce a reflex response (Pavlov). Generalization is the spread of a response to similar stimuli. Option D therefore fits best.

Answer: B

Originality, flexibility and fluency are the components of creative thinking in Guilford's account (together with elaboration), so they belong together. Punctuality is a habit of time-keeping and is not a creativity factor, which makes it the odd one out.

Fluency is the number of ideas produced, flexibility is the variety of categories of ideas and originality is the uniqueness of the ideas. Each of options A, C and D therefore fits the creativity group, and option B is the key.

Answer: D

The Self Theory of Personality was propounded by Carl Rogers. In his person-centred approach, the self-concept and the gap between the real self and the ideal self determine adjustment, and a healthy person is one whose experience fits his self-concept.

Kretschmer is known for a typology based on body build, Allport for trait theory and Eysenck for a factor theory with extraversion and neuroticism. None of them is the author of the self theory.

Answer: C

Archimedes found his answer in the bath tub, which was the sudden flash of the solution, so it is the illumination stage. In Wallas's four stages (preparation, incubation, illumination, verification), illumination is the moment of insight.

Preparation is the work done on the problem and incubation is the period when the problem is put aside and the mind works unconsciously. Verification is the testing of the idea. Since the solution came suddenly when he was not working on it, the key is the third stage.

Answer: D

Both statements are correct. Motivation is important in teaching and learning because a learner who wants to learn gives attention and effort, and motivation, an attraction towards a goal, clarifies the meaning of the goal for the learner.

Options A, B and C each call one of the statements incorrect or leave it out. The key is the fourth option, that both (A) and (R) are correct.

Answer: B

William James is regarded as the pioneer of functionalism: he stressed the functions of consciousness in helping an organism adapt to its surroundings, in Principles of Psychology (1890). The school was developed later at Chicago by Dewey and Angell.

Wilhelm Wundt founded structuralism and the first psychology laboratory in 1879. J.B. Watson founded behaviourism and Kurt Lewin is known for field theory and group dynamics. So option B is correct.

Answer: D

The matches are: vocabulary test with the meaning of the word 'eventually' (3), memory test with the mobile number of the class teacher (4), information test with the location of the Taj Mahal (2), and association test with how animals and plants are alike (1). The code is 3, 4, 2, 1.

Item 5, why nights are longer in winter, is a reasoning-type question left as a distractor. Options A, B and C each pair at least one test with an unsuitable question, such as vocabulary with the wrong item or the memory test with a reasoning question. The key is D.